The Russian army announced today that it has captured another town in eastern Ukraine, where it continues its advance and is getting closer to the city of Pokrovsk.

Russian forces “liberated the village of Novokhrontivka” in the Donetsk region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

Pokrovsk has been a target for weeks for Russian forces, who are closing in on it as the Ukrainian army is outnumbered and lacks the same number of weapons.

The town, which had more than 14,000 residents before the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 according to official figures, is about 20 kilometers from Pokrovsk, a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian military.

Despite Kiev’s surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow is still gaining ground in Donetsk, which remains at the heart of the fighting.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow’s goal is to seize all of Donbas, a large industrial region in eastern Ukraine that includes Donetsk province.

He also said he was open to the possibility of talks with Kiev on the basis of those in the spring of 20222, if Ukraine requests it, despite the fact that Moscow had indicated earlier that it rules out any talks with Kiev because of the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk.